In Philippines, questions on witness death in Ortega case

Questions surrounding the death of Dennis Aranas,
accomplice-turned-witness to the murder of Filipino journalist Gerardo Ortega, have increased
over the past week. Their answers beg yet another question: will the
masterminds behind Ortega's murder succeed in eluding justice?

Ortega was a prominent radio host known for investigations
into corruption among high-level officials in Palawan Province. He was shot
in the back of the head as he shopped at a Puerto Princesa City clothing store
shortly after his morning broadcast on January 24, 2011.

On February 5, Aranas was found dead in his cell in Lucena
City, Quezon. Prison authorities said Aranas, a state witness who confessed to
being the lookout in the murder of Ortega, had hung himself.

Several questions surfaced immediately, leading both Ortega
and Aranas family members to call for a deeper investigation, according to news
reports. Seven hours elapsed between the time Aranas' body was found and the
police being notified, with no explanation. When police did arrive, the body
was no longer in the cell and the cell seemed to have been scrubbed clean, Michaella
Ortega, the journalist's daughter, told CPJ.

An initial autopsy conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation
said Aranas died of asphyxia by hanging, but a subsequent post-mortem by the Public
Attorney's Office ruled this out. According to the public attorney's findings,
which were circulated by the Ortega family and reported in local media,
Aranas died lying down and his death was caused by "manual and ligature
strangulation." Fingernail marks and other injuries indicated he was attacked.

"Was there a cover-up done over the death and now apparent
murder of Dennis Aranas?" the Ortega family asked
in a statement following the public
attorney's autopsy, "Our family demands a full-blown investigation." In an interview
with CPJ, Michaella Ortega said, "Generally, the circumstances surrounding the
supposed 'suicide' are far too suspicious to ignore."

Among those circumstances: Aranas had been removed from the
government's witness protection program based on evaluation by the department
of justice that his testimony was not material to the Ortega case-- and because
he was wanted for a separate crime, a fact that can disqualify a witness from the
protection program.

"At the moment, what we know is that our case is still
strong without his testimony. But his testimony does strengthen the testimonies
of other witnesses by corroborating them. This is why he qualified in the WPP [witness
protection program] in the first place. This is why he was state witness," Michaella
Ortega wrote to CPJ.

Philippines has one of the highest rates of impunity
in murders of journalists, according to CPJ research. Securing witnesses,
who are often subject to threats, attacks, or bribe attempts, has been key to
the few successful convictions. Aranas is not the first witness to a
journalist's murder to die under questionable circumstances. Three witnesses to
the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, which included 30 journalists and two media
workers among its victims, have been killed
since 2010, when the trial began. The
most recent of these was found brutalized and dismembered.

"Aranas had been discharged from the witness protection program
and locked up at the provincial jail, here he was vulnerable to any attempt to
silence him from testifying in the trial of those who ordered the Ortega
murder," charged the National Union of Philippine Journalists in a statement
this week.

Aranas may not have been pivotal to the Ortega prosecution, but
his death is not the trial's first impediment. In a promising start, one key
suspect confessed to organizing Ortega's and named former Palawan Gov. Joel
Reyes, who was implicated in Ortega's reporting on corruption, as a mastermind.
Initially no charges were filed; later the DOJ reviewed new evidence and issued
a warrant. By then, Reyes had fled the country. He remains at large.

To the Ortega family, the events of the last week confirm
one thing, according to their post-post-mortem statement: "It appears that those involved are hell-bent
on eliminating any and all obstacles keeping them from walking scot-free."

Elisabeth Witchel, a CPJ consultant, served for many years as the organization’s journalist assistance coordinator. She also launched CPJ’s Global Campaign Against Impunity.

Comments

There is a long history of enmity between the authority and journalists in the Philippines. There are many government officials who are hateful to the later because they exposed their corruption and irregularities. The undersigned as a journalist experienced first hand that why I take asylum now in Japan unfortunately here in Japan I experienced other kinds of human rights violations that is why I thought of going back home. I'd rather be dead with honor in my own country than be oppressed in a foreign land.